POSTGAME 5: Penalties Costly in 5-2 Loss in Tampa

Special teams proved extremely costly for the Philadelphia Flyers in a 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Tuesday evening. The game started well for the Flyers but penalty trouble proved to be the Flyers' undoing as the Lightning struck three times on six opportunities on the power play. The Flyers, conversely, went 0-for-3.

The Lightning snapped a five-game winless streak at the Flyers' expense. The Flyers went 1-2-0 in the season series.
Morgan Frost (12th goal of the season) at 5:52 of the first period. Alex Killorn (19th) answered on the power play at 7:38. The Flyers took three penalties in all in the first period, paying the price twice. The Lightning's Nikita Kucherov (24th) made it a 2-1 game with a power play goal 34 seconds into the middle stanza.
That was followed by a Ross Colton goal (15th) at 8:46 and an opportunistic goal by Killorn (2nd of the game, 20th of the season) as Tampa built a 4-1 lead at 10:49 of the second period. Brendan Lemieux (1st of the season, 1st as a Flyer) got one goal back for the Flyers at 12:40. The Lightning took a 4-2 lead to the second intermission. In the third period, Tampa tacked on a late power play goal by Kucherov (2nd of the game, 25th of the season).
Carter Hart stopped 34 of 39 shots in a losing cause. Andrei Vasilevskiy started out looking shaky but settled in and went to make some very good saves among 33 saves on 35 shots.
Travis Sanheim and Joel Farabee were benched by head coach John Tortorella for the duration of the second period. Both players were guilty of taking bad penalties: two in Farabee's case, one for Sanheim at the end of a prolonged and rough shift. With two Flyers forwards (Lemieux and Tanner Laczynski) working their way back into game shape and seventh defenseman Justin Braun being spotted selectively, Farabee and Sanheim returned in the third period.
Tony DeAngelo could be facing supplemental discipline from the NHL for a spearing incident on Corey Perry in the latter stages of the third period. DeAngelo received a major penalty and game misconduct at the 17:20 mark.
FLYERS STARTING LINEUP
86 Joel Farabee - 48 Morgan Frost - 74 Owen Tippett
25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 57 Wade Allison
21 Scott Laughton - 49 Noah Cates - 22 Brendan Lemieux
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 58 Tanner Laczynski - [Tippett, double-shifts]
9 Ivan Provorov - 45 Cam York
6 Travis Sanheim - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Nick Seeler - 77 Tony DeAngelo
61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
[32 Felix Sandström]
TURNING POINT
The Flyers' three minor penalties in the first period were momentum generators for Tampa. After Philly had the early edge, Tampa took over the game. The swing started with the first of Farabee's two penalties (an up-ice tripping penalty against Anthony Cirelli) seven minutes into the first period. Tampa turned it quickly into a tic-tac-toe goal for Killorn.
Philly's best segment of the game came over the latter half of the second period. Unfortunately, the Flyers were already trailing, 4-1, at this point. They got back within 4-2 and had multiple chances to cut the gap to a single goal but Vasilevskyi had the answers.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) In the opening two minutes of the first period, Tampa had the puck in the Philadelphia zone for much of the time but they were unable to generate any shots on net. The Flyers blocked a couple shots, on their way to 23 blocks for the night.
Allison had a good scoring chance in transition at 2:30. Looking for the short (blocker) side from his off-wing, Allison missed the net. At the other end of the ice, Allison blocked a Mikhail Sergachev shot. On a second attempt, Sergachev put a point shot on net for a Hart save at 4:31.
The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 5:52; the high point of the game for Philadelphia. Provorov made a good play in the neutral zone outside the Flyers' blueline. Tippett knocked the puck ahead to Farabee for an offensive zone entry. Finding Frost across the ice in the right slot, Farabee threaded a nice pass across. Frost then wired the puck home high to the far (blocker) side. The assists went to Farabee and Tippett.
The line nearly connected again at 6:46. Tippett put a rising shot on net from the right side. Vasilevskiy held on for a stoppage. There was pushing and shoving after the whistle; a frequent occurrence on this night.
After play resumed, Farabee was called for tripping Cirelli at the 7:00 mark. The Lightning power play, ranked 2nd in the NHL, made quick work of the man advantage: Sergechev to Kucherov to Killorn for an easy tip-in at 7:38.
Tampa took over the momentum after the Killorn goal. The Flyers spent much of the remainder of the period defending. It culminated at 14:32 with Sanheim taking a tripping penalty against Steven Stamkos at the end of a long and frustrating shift in which neither he nor the other Flyers on the ice were able to clear the puck from the defensive zone. The Flyers survived the Sanheim penalty but were back on their heels.
At 19:38 of the first period, frustration got the better of Farabee. Taking exception to an unpenalized hit by Brandon Hagel that was finished up high, Farabee did the same to Erik Cernak in the corner at the other end. Farabee was called for a boarding minor on the play.
2) First period shots ended up 15-7 in Tampa's favor. Shot attempts were 29-10 Tampa (18-10 at 5-on-5). Scoring chances were 9-7 in the Lightning's favor at 5-on-5 but 15-7 with the power plays included. High-danger chances were 2-1 Tampa per Natural Stat Trick. Entering the second period, the No. 1 challenge for the Flyers was to kill off the rest of the Farabee boarding penalty and then use it as a springboard to re-establish some momentum. It wasn't to be.
3) During the carryover power play, Sergachev teed up a one-timer for Kucherov. The Russian star wired the puck past Hart at the 34-second mark to quickly put Tampa ahead, 2-1. Killorn received the second assist.
Lemieux was stopped by Vasilevskiy from above the left circle at 1:59. That was a fairly routine save for Vasilevskiy but had to make a tougher one from Laughton in the left circle near the hash marks at 5:10. At 6:10, a York shot from the point created a rebound in front. Frost was unable to pot it.
After a defensive zone turnover by Provorov, Hart made two to make big saves around the 8:15 mark to keep the deficit at 2-1. The reprieve was only temporary. The Flyers were unable to get the puck in deep and made a risky line change in the neutral zone. That part went OK but the Lightning regained the offensive zone and scored at 8:46.
On the play, Colton went to the net and the puck found him to stash just over the goal line. The assists went to Tanner Jeannot as Tampa made it 3-1.
Two shifts later, Cates nearly cut the gap back to one goal. He was denied from the left slot at 10:27 on his blocker-side attempt.
Twenty-two seconds later, the Flyers found themselves in a cavernous three-goal deficit. Hart fell down behind the net retrieving the puck. He semi-recovered but not enough to get properly set for a shot as he scrambled out in front. The Lightning made it 4-1 as Hagel retrieved the puck, Cirelli centered it in front and Killorn picked a spot upstairs to calmly put it over the goalie at 10:49.
The Flyers had a good response for most of the remainder of the period, but especially over the next three shifts after Killorn's second goal. It started with aTippett scoring chance.
At 12:41, Philly cut the gap to 4-2. Cates' point shot was slightly deflected by a high-screening Lemieux and went upstairs on the net. Ristolainen earned the secondary assist. The goal was initially credited to Cates with assists from Ristolainen and Hayes but was changed after the period to credit Lemieux. Hayes, who made a play on the side boards and got the puck out high, lost an assist after the scoring change.
Although Philly made a push, Hart had to step up to deny Stamkos at 14:49. At 18:17, Perry was stopped on a wraparound attempt. Another scrum broke out after the whistle.
At 18:48, Sergachev high-sticked Tippett and the Flyers went on the power play. The Flyers applied heavy pressure on the power play but Vasilevskiy was equal to the task. The Flyers took 1:12 of power play time into the third period.
4) Second period shots on goal were 16-11 Flyers. Shot attempts were 31-18 Flyers. Scoring chances were 15-12 Flyers with a 6-4 high-danger edge.
5) During the carryover power play, a Frost chance was blocked from the low slot. With manpower back to 5-on-5, Frost again had a good chance at the 1:54 mark. He went to the net and took a quick centering pass from Tippett. It took a good save by Vasilevskiy to keep the score at 4-2.
Farabee returned to the game in the third period. A shift later, Sanheim was back on D.
Hart came up big at 3:15 to deny a pair of Tampa chances. The sequence started with a Hayes turnover.
JVR was called for tripping Cernak in the Tampa zone behind the Lightning net at 5:46. With 1:06 left in the Tampa power play, Killorn took down Sanheim on what was called a penalty. Four-on-four play and an eventual Flyers power play ensued.
The Flyers caught a break, courtesy of a Michael Eyssimont chance hitting the goal post. At the other end, with 4:00 left, Farabee put a shot off the post. Another "ping!" followed in the Philly zone subsequently on a Perry shot attempt.
The Flyers pulled Hart for an extra attacker. On a tremendous individual effort, Frost sliced through the defense on the rush and had a one-on-one chance from the slot against Vasilevskiy. The Russian netminder got a glove on the puck (his fourth save on Frost in the game after the Flyers' center scored on his first) and then made a stop on van Riemsdyk for a stoppage at 17:09.
More pushing and shoving ensued at the whistle. Things escalated as DeAngelo, who had spent all night jostling and chirping with Perry, came in late and speared Perry in the cup. The Lighting en masse went after DeAngelo. After a delay to check on replay exactly what happened, DeAngelo was kicked out of the game on a major and game misconduct.
The Lightning spent the rest of the game on the power play. At 17:38, Kucherov beat Ristolainen off the rush and then slid a backhander through the five-hold to restore a three-goal lead. Brayden Point drew the lone assist.
York had a late shorthanded chance up ice. Vasilevskiy made his 33rd and final save of the game.
Third period shots on goal were 13-12 Tampa. Shot attempts were 25-21 Tampa. Scoring chances were 15-9 Tampa. High-danger chances were 4-4. For the game, final faceoff totals were 34-22 in Tampa's favor.